PUTTING THE CHART BEFORE THE HORSE SOUNDTRACK ALBUMS CAN SOMETIMES BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE MOVIES THEY COME FROM

By KAREN HUNTER

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS|

Dec 17, 1995 | 12:00 AM

It's getting so you can't go to the movies nowadays without being bombarded with music. James Bond's intro blares the funky voice of Tina Turner singing the title cut, "GoldenEye.

" And the movie blasts off from there. Soundtracks have always played a major role, but in the past it was for movies like "The Sound of Music," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "Bye Bye Birdie" but those were musicals. Then came "Dirty Dancin' " and "The Bodyguard," which each sold more than 10 million copies of their soundtracks. They turned movie music simple vehicles to connect scenes into an industry. If you scan any record store you will find an entire section devoted to soundtracks, lined with thousands of soundtracks of movies that had nothing to do with music. Currently on the Billboard charts: "Pulp Fiction," "Waiting to Exhale," "Dangerous Minds," "Pocahontas," "Batman Forever," "Forrest Gump" "Dead Presidents" and "Mortal Kombat," whose soundtrack has gone gold. And there are plenty more that don't even make the charts. Today, soundtracks aren't just background music, they are big business. Now, many movie makers, understanding the potential power of a soundtrack, make sure at least the music is sound even if the movie isn't. Even marginal box-office successes like "Friday," starring rap star Ice Cube, and Russell Simmons' hip-hop documentary, "The Show," each had soundtracks that sold over a million copies. "The road is littered with movies that didn't do well and the soundtrack hit," said Melinda Newman, senior talent editor at Billboard. "A soundtrack's success is not necessarily tied into a movie's success. Oftentimes a soundtrack has a life of its own. "Soundtracks are huge. Not only is it a way to promote a movie, it's a way for record companies to promote artists and even introduce new ones.

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" With "Waiting to Exhale," Arista got an opportunity to boost some of its artists, like Houston and TLC and give others, like Toni Braxton, a holdover for her fans who anxiously await her next album, which was due out this year but was never released. And it reminds us that established divas like Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan, whose "Funny Valentine" rendition is already a big hit, can still sing. The album even sneaks in new artists Sonja Marie and Shanna, the first act on Houston's new label, "Better Place Records.

" The formula is working. In just its third week on the charts, "Waiting to Exhale" has gone gold with 573,000 copies sold, according to SoundScan, which charts record sales. It debuted at No. 3 on Billboard's top 100 albums chart, No. 2, with Whitney Houston's single, "Exhale [Shoop Shoop]," on the pop singles chart and No. 1 on the R&B charts. Some soundtracks are actually used to promote the movie, instead of the other way around. With "Dangerous Minds," producers used portions of the music video from its hit cut, "Gangsta's Paradise," to promote the movie, which originally was not doing so well. But buoyed by the success of the soundtrack, according to the producers, the movie ended up performing well. That soundtrack, featuring the "Gangsta's Paradise" hit by Medusa-haired rapper Coolio and newcomer LV, was one of the top-selling albums of the year. It sold more than 2.

2 million copies in just 17 weeks. It topped all the charts and is still in the Top 10 on pop charts. "It made a mediocre film a success," said Tommy Boy president Monica Lynch of the MCA soundtrack featuring two Tommy Boy artists, LV and Coolio on the "Gangsta Paradise" single. "And it helped us tremendously. It helped introduce LV in a major way. He was able to ride the coattails of the other artists. And with Coolio, it broadened his awareness around the world, where the song was No. 1 in many countries outisde the U.

S.

" Perhaps the biggest example of a movie soundtrack packing a big wallop was with another Whitney Houston project "The Bodyguard.

" It was Houston's big-screen debut, but buoyed by a blockbuster soundtrack, which is still one of the biggest sellers of all times. Thousands flocked to theatres just to hear Whitney Houston belt out that one tune "I Will Always Love You.